


My Life as a Hunter

by EventHorizons13



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Blood and Torture, Canon-Typical Violence, Character Death, Demons, F/M, Gen, Good Parent John Winchester, Grief/Mourning, Heavy Angst, Implied/Referenced Cheating, John Winchester Tries, Kidnapping, Protective Crowley, Supernatural Elements, Torture, Violence, Winchester Sister
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-15
Updated: 2020-04-15
Packaged: 2021-03-01 16:47:40
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 8
Words: 15,804
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23660305
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EventHorizons13/pseuds/EventHorizons13
Summary: A series of one shots. JD Winchester is the middle child in the Winchester trio. Life as a Winchester had never been easy. It doesn't look like it's getting any easier.
Relationships: Crowley (Supernatural)/Original Female Character(s), Dean Winchester & Original Female Character(s), Sam Winchester & Original Female Character(s)
Kudos: 11





	1. Funny It Is, Being Friends with Demons

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> JD Winchester is having a rough evening. Sometimes help and comfort comes from some of the most unexpected places.

Emotionally exhausted was the only way to explain how I was feeling. Sure watching it happen to my older brothers should have prepared me for how things would turn out but that didn’t make it any easier to deal with. Then again, women often pinned after them and they were the ones ending it. It was not often that they were the ones who were caught off guard, heartbroken because someone decided to hurt them. I needed a good hunt to get my mind off of things but that was just a fantasy at the moment seeing as both Dean and Sam were out taking care of what sounded like a salt and burn. Knowing the Winchester luck though, it would turn into something more. Meaning, I was on my own to dwell in my sadness and self-pity. I hated feeling those sort of emotions but there was nothing else that the current situation called for.

I collapsed down into the chair in my room, the small light keeping the room slightly darker. My head was pounding, the tears that I had shed leaving the evidence of a breakdown on my face. I couldn’t be bothered to clean them up though, no I wanted to remain here, absently staring at the wall with an open book in my lap. It was meant to be a distraction, research for the boys about something that Bobby had called about but we hadn’t taken up just yet. Wanting to be numb but knowing that drinking would be a poor idea when I was on my own, I had to settle for this. Though it was doing a piss poor job as a substitute. I don’t think I had ever felt so defeated. I had taken this relationship more seriously than I ever had before. I had thought that there was a possibility that it would turn into something more, that I wouldn’t have to be looking for anyone else. My chest ached as if my heart had taken a physical beating. This was just a reason to ward me off from relationships in the future but also bring the level up a notch in my disgruntled feelings towards being a hunter.

I heard steps in my room and it snapped me out of my haze. No matter my state, instincts wouldn’t allow me to just get myself killed because some boy had hurt me.

“Ah, just the Winchester I was looking for.” I closed my eyes and let out a small sigh. “I need a favor love…”

“Crowley please. We can talk about whatever you want but give me a couple hours. Come back in the morning and I will listen to whatever you have to say. I just need some time to myself right now.” I could see the demon pause out of the corner of my eye. What I couldn’t see was the furrow brow and flickers of confusion that crossed his face at my tone. Even I wanted to cringe at how near broken I sounded in the moment. Yeah, perfect. Show the King of Hell what a weak woman I was. God damn it JD, get your shit together. Come on.

Not a single sound came from Crowley as he stood there for a few more moments. His hand came up, I could see it but before he could snap, a loud pounding came to the door of my apartment. My jaw clenched and my entire body tensed, tight as a spring as I could hear the voice drifting through the door even in my bedroom. James had impeccable timing, always had. The jackass breaks my heart and then had the nerve to show up here? And when I had business to attend to, even though I had just asked Crowley to return in a few hours. I nearly swore as I could feel Crowley’s eyes burning into me, as if he was putting the pieces of the puzzle together even without having them. I closed my eyes again and actually allowed myself to swear as I heard the dress shoes walk across the wooden floor. He could read minds.

I was up on my feet and moving towards the door, trying to intercept the brunette before he could get there. I didn’t need any trouble and the one being who loved to cause it was striding with purpose towards the door. James knew nothing about what my brothers and I did. He had met Crowley on accident once and I had never heard the end of it. James had hated him instantly, thinking that my brothers were putting me in danger by having such a creepy man around all the time. If he only knew.

“Don’t you dare…” My warning was killed immediately as the door swung open. I stood behind Crowley but could still see the look of disgust that crossed over the blond man’s face as he stood in the doorway.

“What are you doing here creep?” He tried to force his way in but the demon stood firm. Bastard had managed to step around my devil trap too, making sure that he wasn’t stuck in one spot. I was tense, not sure where this was going and who was going to end up hurt. Because someone was. The feeling was settling like a pit in my stomach, taking over the sadness. My eyes diverted from James when he looked towards me.

“Come on Jules, we need to talk.” Swallowing hard and praying that I didn’t suddenly burst into tears like a hormonal woman, I shook my head. My voice was going to crack if I tried to speak.

“I think it would be a good idea for you to leave the lady alone.” There was an edge to the demons voice that I hadn’t heard before. Sure I had heard him angry, furious really, aggravated, and frustrated, all sorts of unhappy emotions. But this? This was something new. I edged towards the couch where a blade sat, just in case I needed it.

“Back off. You don’t know jack shit. Now let me talk to my girlfriend.” I couldn’t see the dangerous smirk that came across his face at James’ words. I could see the tension that had risen to his shoulders though and the way that his body was taunt, waiting for a fight. I had seen it enough on my brothers to know even if I hadn’t seen him in true action too often.

“I’m sorry who do you think you need to talk to? Because I am fairly certain that sleeping with other women would discount any sort of relationship that you have with the lovely woman standing behind me.” Lord, the man liked to press buttons, no matter who it was. Guess it was nice to see him going after someone that wasn’t myself or my brothers. And oddly enough, I was finding myself thankful that he was here and handling the situation because I wasn’t sure that I would be able to. James made the mistake of shoving Crowley and forcing his way into the apartment, his face red at the implications that had just been tossed out into the open. So, it had been more than one woman. I felt a fool and suddenly was wishing that the floor would open up and swallow me whole. Spending some time down in hell would be better than having to handle this right now. The wounds were too fresh. Even if a whole week didn’t make it count as really fresh.

Instantly, Crowley was by my side before James could cross the floor and stand in front of me. I was not able to blink before I felt a warm hand rest against my hip. My brain didn’t catch up to the situation right away as the redness increased on my ex’s face. Crowley was standing beside me, an arm wrapped around me. I glanced up at him to see the warning look that was settled on his face. What the hell was he doing?

“Get your hands off of her.” James was gritting his teeth.

“Why should I when you can’t keep your hands to yourself huh? At least I don’t allow mine to wander.”

“I didn’t cheat.” Crowley snorted before shaking his head and pressing a kiss to my temple. Alright, now things were getting weird but I found myself not all that bothered by it still.

“But you did.” I finally spoke, more comforted and strengthened by the man beside me than I really should have. “You can lie to everyone all you want but I caught you with another woman. There is no changing that. Now get out of my apartment.” My arm slid around Crowley’s waist, hand gripping onto his suit blazer more than I intended it to. His hand gave my hip a small squeeze. That was when he swung, at who I couldn’t tell because things started to move too fast. Crowley had pulled me behind his form, taking the punch on his jaw. Before I could move to throw the man out of my space, he was pinned to the wall. Yep, the demon was showing and I was sure that in the moment James was instantly regretting the decision to come over here.

“Now, you are going to listen to me and listen very carefully.” Crowley straightened out his blazer before sparing a quick glance at me to make sure that I was okay. Then his attention was fully on James once more. “You are going to leave this apartment with your life. Not because I want it but because it would cause too many problems for my girl. You are never going to come here again, talk to her again, or think of her again. Because if you do, I will know and make sure that I finish this the way that I want to handle it. You will be praying for death by the time I am done and then will spend the rest of eternity suffering the worst sort of torture that I can come up with. Your soul will never rest. Do I make myself understood?” James made some sort of choking sound that Crowley took as an agreement and he let go of whatever hold he had on the blond. James scurried out of the apartment faster than I had ever seen him more.

My shoulders dropped and I immediately fell onto my couch, burying my face in my hands. As if I wasn’t exhausted before.

“Thank you.” It was barely a whisper but I knew that the normally pesky demon heard it. The couch dipped beside me and I felt the warmth of an arm resting close to my shoulders.

“No need to thank me love.” Demon or not, I have never been more thankful to not be alone during the ordeal and right then. “Guy needed to be put in his place. Felt good to exercise a few old tricks.” I felt like that wasn’t the whole truth but considering he had just helped me out tremendously, I was not about to call him out on the bullshit. He didn’t jump right to business either which was odd but I didn’t question it. Instead, I just continued to take the comfort that his presence was offering and allowed myself to relax. Things could and would be different come tomorrow, even more so when my brothers came back but for now, hunter and demon were friends.


	2. One Nice Family Dinner is Too Much to Ask

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Part 1/3
> 
> The Winchester luck holds true even for JD. A hunter should never be unprepared and yet, she gets caught off guard.
> 
> Trigger Warning: Violence, brief mentions of torture, kidnapping.

The tiny room was crowded and rowdy but beyond comfortable to all involved in the dinner. Bobby was laughing at something Sam had said while Dean was shoveling food into his mouth faster than I could follow. Ellen was watching with amusement while occasionally slapping Dean upside the head for his horrendous table manners, though Castiel was copying the actions so she would roll her eyes in a mocking frustration every few seconds. Jo and I were in the middle of a playfully heated argument on the various canine creatures that we encountered in our work. It wasn't what most would consider normal, but I couldn't have asked for anything better in the moment. I had my family around me and nothing was going wrong. There had been too much stress, too much worry lately and as difficult as it had been for us to start relaxing, once we begun to enjoy ourselves, it was hard not to fall right into it and take in every moment that we could while we had it.

That sort of relaxation doesn't last long for any hunter, let alone us Winchesters. We had surprisingly run out of liquor and it hadn't even hit eight in the evening. Being the one who had managed to avoid being drunk off of their ass, I offered to make the run to get more liquor. It wasn't like I was going far and I was capable of taking care of myself. I took the keys for one of Bobby's trucks, reassuring everyone that I wouldn't be long, that it was a ten minute drive down the road, ten minutes back and then we could all continue drinking and laughing.

Maybe it was the liquor that had dulled my senses as I stood in the store, placing several bottles into a basket for purchase. Maybe it was the sense of complacency that had come over me, the comfort of the evening that had me missing the signs that were obvious as the day was long. No matter what it was, I still missed them all and before I knew it, I was staring at a man with blond hair and a gleam to his eyes that immediately set me on edge. Oh, I was in trouble. Every hunter instinct in my body screamed for me to run away, that this was very, very dangerous.

A smirk that curled his lips almost unnaturally came to his face as he stared at me, closing the distance between us after a moment. I moved to grab the blade and gun that were tucked into my waistband.

"Oh come now. You really think those are going to do anything to me? I was thinking that catching a Winchester was going to be much more difficult than this. You and your brothers have quite the reputation. I have to admit that I am a bit disappointed." My eyes narrowed as I tried to work out who he was, what he was and how far screwed I was. "Now that just wounds my pride that you can't figure out who I am." My eyes widened. Mind reader, appearing out of nowhere. He had a vibe coming off of him that was similar to Cas but it was darker, more demon like. He wasn't exactly like any sort of demon that I had come across though. There was more power radiating from him.

"What do you want?"

"Your brother." He shrugged and gave what seemed like an honest answer. It threw me off a little bit but I held the blade in front of me, my gun cocked in the other hand. "And you are going to help me with that. Easiest way to a man is through his family after all."

"You even going to tell me who the hell you are? So I know whose ass I am handing to them?" He chuckled and it sent a wave of ice down my spine. I would much rather deal with Crowley on any sort of day than this man.

"You mean to tell me your brothers kept you locked in the dark about me? What a shame." Things were slowly beginning to fall into place. I was in deeper than I could handle, that much I knew. But there wasn't a chance of me getting out of there in one piece. I also completely understood and accepted that. It was a matter of how much damage I could cause him before I went down. Winchesters never laid down and died easily after all. Without a second more of hesitation, I lashed out at the demon, not caring anymore who I was fighting. All that mattered was that I managed to get some hits in on the man before he overpowered me. He had the audacity to laugh, find it amusing that I was fighting for my life. It pissed me off even further. Which really wasn't a good thing for me seeing as the more anger I had over a situation, the less in control I tended to be. I took after Dean a bit in that regard. He had a few years on me when it came to restraining and reigning that sort of thing in. The slashes I made were becoming less and less coordinated. He saw his opportunity and went for it, his hand coming into contact with my head. Then my world was black.

The first thing that registered in my brain was the throb that was permeating my head, ruining any chance of thinking straight. Groaning softly, I went to open my eyes only to find myself looking at complete darkness. Nothing but black surrounded me. Panic came welling up without hesitation or resistance. I couldn't be blind, I had to be in the dark. I tried to grasp onto that thought to be able to keep from having a complete breakdown. I slammed my lids shut again, unwilling to withstand the idea any longer that I could have lost my vision. My hands were tied tightly against the arms of a chair. Even if I struggled, I wouldn't have been able to loosen them. Someone had done their homework. Swallowing down hard and shoving as much of the panic and fear into the back of my mind as I could, I threw myself at making an attempt at figuring out where I was. There was little to no sound reaching my ears at the moment, even as I strained to listen. The hair on the back of my neck stood up. It was like a sensory deprivation and I was hating every second of it.

Tallying up the odds that were stacked against me, they were pretty hefty and I wasn't sure I would be able to come out of this without too much damage suddenly. My fist uncurled and fingers latched onto the wood beneath my fingers. It served as a purchase, even if it wasn't something special or held any sort of meeting towards me. My world was beginning to spin out of control and there was not a single damn thing in heaven, hell, or earth that I could think of to get out of the situation. I would never get to see my brothers again. It was heartbreaking really.

As much as we fought and argued and wanted to tear each other's heads off on more than one occasion, we were still family and that was important to us all.

After what felt like hours when in reality it was probably only a couple of minutes along with the acceptance that the angel I knew wasn't going to be swooping in to rescue me, the door opened and I could hear footsteps moving towards me. The slowly shutting door was allowing me to hear every anguished, agonized scream that was filling the area outside of the room I was stuck in.

"Well, if it isn't my favorite Winchester." The events of the store came flooding back and I knew this was the same man that I had encountered there.

"Lucifer." I spoke quietly as the realization came over me. The boys weren't as good about hiding what they were researching as they thought they were. It all made sense now. The quiet appearance, the energy that I could feel off of him, making me black out. So, I was lord only knew where with the devil himself. This was just getting better and better.

"See, I knew you wouldn't disappoint me. Julianna, the smartest of the Winchester. If I wasn't so keen on having your brother's body, I might just allow my mind to be persuaded." I nearly cringed at the use of my full name. I wasn't a giant fan and always introduced myself as JD. Few people were allowed to call me Jules. But Julianna? Forget about it.

That was when the idea popped into my head. Crowley. I hated to have to rely on him but there wasn't a bunch of other options presenting themselves. I kept my eyes closed and tried to reach out to him. If we were anywhere where there could have been a mass of demons, he should have been able to know, feel something. He had a knack for it after all. Showing up at my apartment and later Bobby's house, or on hunts at odd hours just when I needed something.

Seconds later, there was still nothing. The hope I had felt at the idea dimmed and burned out quickly. I was screwed. My brothers wouldn't be able to help me, I didn't want them to either seeing as it was a trap. Cas and Crowley weren't responding. I was on my own against a foe that I was not going to be able to defeat.

"That's what this whole thing is about. You getting my brother's body. Listen, I know Sam isn't exactly the most intelligent or also so willing when it comes to those who want to share his bed, but kidnapping me isn't going to make him want to fuck you." I didn't care about the language I was using in the moment. I probably should have concerned myself more with the fact that I had just allowed my mouth to run, sarcasm being quite the defense mechanism in our family, to Lucifer. My jaw clamped down hard as I felt a searing pain flare up my arm from my hand.

"I take that back. Maybe you aren't the smartest of the Winchesters. The mouth runs in your family doesn't it?"

"You know, it sort of screams desperate when you are chasing after the sibling of someone you want. Not a good look on you." The pain became more intense as I fought against crying out. If I could have seen, I would have been horrified to see the knife sticking out of my hand.

"You may want to remember your place little girl. You are playing with the big boys now and I plan on making you scream. But don't worry, you won't die. Every day, I will just let you go to the very brink before healing you so we can do it all again." My stomach twisted into a giant knot at the words. As terrified as I was, and I was truly terrified, I couldn't let him know it.

I couldn't let him get any information on Sam and Dean. I would protect my brothers with my life, and in this case, it really would mean giving it all up. After all, it was what Winchesters did best.


	3. Winchesters Never Give Up

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Part 2/3
> 
> The rest of the family realizes something is wrong when JD doesn't return.

Sam knew something was up when it took JD more than an hour to make it back. The others weren’t too concerned yet, though everyone was almost too drunk to walk let alone think of what could be happening. He tried calling her twice to no avail. It kept going to voicemail after several long rings. His stomach churned and a heavy feeling settled deep within his chest. Something was wrong. Grabbing a glass of water for himself, getting more sober was his top priority. Seeing the opportunity as laughter died down at the table, he cleared his throat to draw some attention to himself.

“JD has been gone for over an hour. It’s only a twenty minute round trip. I think someone should go check on her.” Dean leaned heavily against the table as the words took a bit longer than usual to process. Sam kept a straight face, being absolutely serious about going to check of their sibling. Something was wrong, he knew it. The feeling was growing by the second.

“Alright, fine Sammy.” Dean waved his hand. “She probably just got stopped by someone. You know how she is. But if you want to go check, go on.” The rest of the group were studying Sam and could see that he was genuinely concerned over the issue. Bobby stood up and handed over another pair of keys.

“Here. It’s the blue truck parked towards the end of the lot. Bit more reliable than the truck that JD took. In case she is broken down on the side of the road.” Sam didn’t believe that was a possibility for a second but was grateful that Bobby was making an attempt to calm him down. He grabbed the keys with a nod and headed out the door, feeling much more sober than he had when JD left. His sister had to be okay. It was probably just something stupid and he could laugh about it later but with the way that he was feeling, he didn’t want to take the chance on ignoring it. That had never worked out well for any of them in the past and he wasn’t about to add to the running count.

The ride over was quiet and there was not a single sign of her anywhere along the road. So the break down was out of the question. Coming on the liquor store, the hair on the back of his neck stood straight up. Fingers tightened around the wheel as he forced down the worry that was bringing bile up the back of his throat. His eyes flitted around the scene, trying to see if anything was wrong. Just one thing needed to be out of place but so far it wasn’t. Everything was quiet, normal. He wasn’t sure if it was the normal that was making him more uncomfortable than he was already or if he was just allowing his mind to get the better of him. Bobby’s other car was still parked in the lot so Sam knew that she had made it to the store alright.

Every instinct and feeling was proven right as soon as Sam stepped over the threshold of the store entrance. The clerk was behind the counter, face down on the floor. He didn’t need to check the body to know that he was already dead. Reaching for his knife, he moved carefully through the store, keeping as aware of his surrounding as he could while desperately seeking the form of his sister. She couldn’t be one of the bodies on the floor, he couldn’t accept it.

“JD?” He called out softly, hoping to hear anything coming from her. Even a whimper at this point would have been a welcomed sound to his ears. But nothing but silence continued to greet him. Each body that he came across gave him a start. His nerves were nearly frayed by the time that he came to the last body and it was a male. There was no sign of the middle Winchester here. If the car that Bobby had let her drive wasn’t parked out front, he wouldn’t have believed that she could have been here. He had to get the others, let them know that something had happened, that JD was in some serious trouble. That was when he spotted the charred feather on the floor and his heart nearly stopped. It was familiar, as much as he wished it hadn’t been.

“Find her Sammy?” Dean’s voice was much too calm for his liking. Blood was pounding in his ears as he tried to wrap his head around the fact that his sister was being held by one of the most twisted individuals that they had ever dealt with. JD was never meant to be mixed up in any of this. He and Dean had agreed that this was something that they needed to protect her from. Because the fallen angel would use her to whatever advantage that he could. He wanted to vomit, wanted to curl in a ball and cry. His voice cracked when he managed to bring himself to answer Dean.

“She isn’t here Dean. They are all dead. And I found a charred angel feather.” Sam could hear the chair hitting the floor as Dean shot up. At least he wasn’t drunk enough to not realize what was being said.

“You sure?”

“There are four bodies that are in the store that can back up my claims. JD wasn’t there Dean. What if he has her?” Slamming his hand against the steering wheel, Sam felt the burn of tears in the back of his eyes. He was going to destroy the bastard who dared to lay a hand on his sister.

“We’ll find her Sam. Just get back here. I’ll see if Cas can start the search.”

By the time Sam got back, he was forced to face the news that Cas couldn’t seem to find JD anywhere. She had vanished off the face of the map. The playful mood that had hung in the air was doused and send crashing. Everyone was arming themselves, solemn faced, liquor forgotten about entirely. A family member was missing, taken by one of the biggest baddies of them all. It wasn’t a situation that was going to be handled lightly.

The brothers looked at one another for a second before nodding and moving to grab the supplies that they would need. Crowley would be able to search Hell, figure out if that was where she was being held. They didn’t bring the idea up to the others right away but desperate times called for desperate measures.

The demon appeared before them with an exasperated sigh and roll of his eyes.

“Moose and Squirrel. As always, a pleasure. Now what does the wonder duo need this time around? I was quite busy…”

“JD is missing.” That cut the demon off rather abruptly. His jaw snapped shut and he looked between the two of them.

“What do you mean missing?” They had his full attention and knew that he would help. While neither of the boys were fond of the easy bond that had formed between the two, they were thankful for it in that moment.

“As in taken by Lucifer.” Sam set the feather down on the table.

“You two are complete morons!” It was a struggled for the demon to maintain himself, some level of composure needed. It was clear that he wanted to snap the necks of both male Winchesters. “She hasn’t tried to call Castiel?” Crowley hadn’t sensed anything amiss in Hell but that didn’t necessarily mean all that much. The child that was perpetually throwing a temper tantrum had a tight grip on things when he decided to make his presence known. It had been a long shot that they wouldn’t have checked with their pet angel. If anyone was going to be able to find the girl, it would be him. Though Crowley wasn’t sure he would be able to admit that out loud even if JD’s life was dependent on it.

“What does he want?”

“We don’t know. He hasn’t tried to make any sort of contact.”

“This seems to be a lot of damn contact if you asked me.” The words held a bit more venom than either expected from Crowley.

“Listen, we can just send you back now. We don’t need to deal with your crap. Are you going to help us or not?” The look was all the answer that either of them needed. The demon was on-board. He really had been since they can come out with the reason for the summoning. “We need to know if she is being held down in Hell.” Before they were able to explain anything else, he was gone.

Sam stared at the spot that Crowley had previously occupied.

“Think he will find her?”

“I sure hope so. In the meantime, let’s get our asses to work. Can’t rely on him to handle it all, especially if she isn’t there to begin with. He could be expecting us to think she is down there so he could have decided to lay low elsewhere.” Sam nodded and they both went to join back in with the other hunters to formulate some sort of plan.

Sam had a hard time focusing on the meeting that they were having, for once not being able to put in too much of his own opinion. He was wholly distracted. He would have to clamp down on it soon if he was going to be of any help in finding and rescuing JD. If only they could catch a break, have their trust in the demon rewarded somehow.

Just as someone was going to admonish him for not having his head in the game, Crowley reappeared as if to answer the very thoughts that Sam had been having about him in that moment. He looked frustrated. It didn’t go unnoticed by anyone in the room and the moral dropped even further as they allowed the fact that Crowley had failed settled over them.

“I can’t find her anywhere but something is happening. I don’t know what it is but it is serious. There are a lot of whispers of your names, all three of the Winchester prodigies. Someone knows something. I just have to figure it out.”

“Well figure it out quick! She could be in some real danger.” Both parties narrowed his eyes at the other.

“You don’t think I don’t know that? She is with one of the most sadistic bastards that has ever graced existence.” Bobby stepped between the men, hands held out as if it would actually stop something from happening between them.

“Calm down! We are focused on JD here. You two can go back to fighting like lovers later. Understood?” A serious, furious Bobby Singer was a bit of a terrifying sight and most tended to listen to him when he spoke in that sort of mood. Dean and Crowley were no different, even if it came as a slight surprise to the others in the room.

“Get back to Hell and figure it out.” Crowley shook his head and decided to stick around for a few more moments, try to gather himself, and get some more information on what the motley crew would be doing on their end. If they didn’t work together, it was a possibility that they wouldn’t find JD before something really, really bad happened. It could get worse than being kidnapped from Satan, Crowley knew that much. Wherever she was, she was likely suffering and no one felt settled with that thought. It kept muscles twitching and chests heaving as they worked through what they knew and what they had to do to find her.


	4. The Winchester Sacrifice

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Part 3/3
> 
> Sometimes a sister has to make the ultimate play to ensure her brothers are kept safe.
> 
> Trigger warning: Torture, death

The torture on a daily basis was becoming unbearable. It felt like an eternity that I had been tied to the chair, time passing in a way that I couldn’t count or judge. My sight hadn’t returned, or it wasn’t allowed to. One or the other, either way, I was stuck with the blackness that had enveloped me since the first moment I became conscious. At the end of every session, Lucifer would make sure that I was all but choking on my own blood, battered and broken almost beyond repair before he healed me. I had lost track of how many times it had happened and lost all sense of which one was worse. The pain was gut wrenching but the knowledge that I was back to normal for it to all start again the next time he paid a visit was soul breaking. I had given up the hope that someone would find me; that someone would come to my rescue. The only thing that kept me going and just not giving over to the mind numbing dullness that echoed in my ears constantly was the fact that I had not given him information on my brothers, that he was still as lost as he was since he had kidnapped me. If his attention was on me, it was off Sam and Dean. That was a victory enough for me.

The door creaked open and the now familiar footfalls began to make their way in my direction. A small, involuntary whimper left my mouth. Even the strongest of minds would break with what he was doing and physically, emotionally, I was very broken. The mental aspect was coming soon, so very soon. The thin grasp I had on stable ground was shaky at best now.

“Well, aren’t we looking chipper this morning? You know, this could all end if you just let me know where you brothers are right. It could all be over like that, no more pain, no more suffering. Think you have well proven your point. There isn’t a need to be stronger any longer. I know you don’t have it in you anymore.” The offer was more and more tempting every visit but with the picture of Sam flashing before my eyes, I shook my head with the little energy I had left before it hung downward, tears silently falling from my eyes. I couldn’t even speak any more, my voice hoarse and raw from the screaming that I had given into. “Oh, wrong answer sweetheart. I truly thought this would be the morning that you accepted the offer. Shame, though your screams do sound so pretty bouncing off this walls.” A shake worked its way through my body, an anticipation of what was about to come. A plea almost fell from my lips, begging for mercy finally. He wouldn’t listen but I was desperate.

The slicing started on my thighs this time around. Shallow cuts really, not enough to cause any serious bleeding just yet. Muscles taunt and tense, sore and stuck from being in a chair for so long, tried to move away even though I knew that there was nowhere that I could go. My jaw cracked from the tension of my teeth gritting together, pained sounds escaping between them as the blade continued its journey over my skin. The cool metal worked up my stomach, the cuts becoming deeper as his patience seemed to be nonexistent today.

“You have been a wonderful play thing and I have to admit that I respect the loyalty and devotion to your brothers. I didn’t think that humans were capable of it. But, time moves on and I have lost my use for you since you brothers didn’t seem all that concerned. There are more important things for me to tend to and while I could leave you with another demon who could torture you, that just doesn’t sound all that fun. I like you Winchesters to myself. So, today will be our last day.” He quieted down to allow the thought to sink it. It terrified me less than it should have. No, it was welcomed in a lot of ways. Death was a release from all of this. Even if I did end up in hell, at least it was my soul and the demons had to be less creative than the fallen angel that had been my only companion for who knew how long. There was at least a slim chance I could end up in heaven. It was comforting to think about, even if the chances were slim. A low sigh left me and the corners of my lips twitched upward. Sam and Dean would be safe, at least as safe as they could be with Lucifer hunting them down. But they wouldn’t be drawn into this trap, wouldn’t be hurt because they were trying to save me. I had done the job as best that I could and finally, it was drawing to a close. “Shame really. I could have really made use of you.”

The last syllable hadn’t left his mouth before the blade dug deep into my abdomen. Damn it, he was going to make me bleed out. I let out a guttural groan, more pained sounds escaping around it. My chest heaved as my body refused to listen to my mind, pain overwhelming. The door opened and closed once more though it was dimmed and fuzzy in my ears. Finally.

Crowley came upon the room with a frown. It was silent today, which was odd. Normally there were muffled yells coming from it, though he was not sure who was in there or who was carrying out the torture. His intrigue got the best of him and he cracked open the door.

Freezing in the doorway, his brain could not catch up to the sight before him. JD sat tied to a chair, bleeding from superficial wounds but that wasn’t what caught his attention. It was the gaping wound in her stomach that caused him to lose all functioning thought.

“No, no, no.” Glancing around the halls, he didn’t see anyone wandering in his direction. He would have to work quickly, really quickly. She was bleeding out. Shaky hands removed the bindings that kept her stuck to the chair. She was breathing but barely and he reached out to cup her cheek in his palm. “I need you to open your eyes for me love. Come on, let me know you are still with me.” She wasn’t responsive right away, her head lulling to the side. Cursing under his breath, he scooped her out of the chair and hurried to a point where he could get himself to the Winchesters and their pet angel. He had to be able to heal her.

He wasn’t sure where he was when his feet hit the ground again and frankly he didn’t care.

“Moose! Squirrel!” Anyone really, he didn’t care which member of their little team came running through the door. All he knew was that someone needed to, quickly. He gently laid her down on the couch and brushed some hair from her eyes. “Come on Jules, you need to open your eyes. Just give me something here darling. Tell me you are still with us. Your brothers are coming. Castiel will be here. We are going to get you healed up.” Sam and Dean came skidding into the room, weapons drawn though they immediately fell to the floor when they noticed who it was on the couch.

“JD!” They rushed over and dropped to their knees, not bothering to pull Crowley away. “What happened?”

“Found her like this. Where is that angel of yours? She has lost too much blood boys.”Dean closed his eyes and thought of the brunette that was needed. Crowley kept a hand pressed against her wound, eyes shooting to her face when her eyes finally fluttered open. Eyes moved though, it was as if she couldn’t see.

“Crow…Crowley?” Her voice wasn’t her own, raw and harsh. She coughed harshly, her entire body convulsing with the movement that seemed wholly too painful for her to have to deal with.

“Why isn’t he here yet?” I still couldn’t see but voices, as fuzzy as they were sounded familiar. I wouldn’t mistake that light Scottish lithe anywhere. That was Crowley. But what was he doing here?

“I don’t know!” That sounded like Dean. A soft, familiar touch came to my face. That was Sam. No, they couldn’t see me like this. This was so unfair. I was just supposed to die.

“Dean? Sam?” The sounds of crying reached my ears, through all the haze.

“Hey, hey. It’s okay slugger. We are here. You are going to be okay alright? Cas is going to take care of this.” I struggled to get air into my lungs, feeling so incredibly weak, and the haze of unconsciousness trying to pull me under quicker than I wanted it to. Shaking my head, I knew that wasn’t the case this time around. I was going to die here and I was ready to face that, as much now as I had been tied to the chair.

“Just keep focused on our voices. You don’t have to do anything anymore love.” Crowley spoke softly, almost as if knowing that this was it. He always had a good knack with those things. My one hand fell over his on my stomach, giving it a small, weak squeeze while the other sought out my brothers.

“Safe.” They were safe and that was what mattered the most.

“Yeah you are.” Sam, I could feel his lips against my forehead. “Don’t give up on us here. I know you are thinking it. Please JD.” His tears hit my face and I wanted to reassure them that it was okay, that I was okay with all of this and that they needed to just let me go but I couldn’t form the words. This was why it would have been better to die in the chair. They would have been angry, they would have grieved, but they wouldn’t have to sit and watch it happen, all out of their control.

“Where is the damn angel?!” I allowed my eyes to slip close again, a ragged gasp passing my lips as the haze pulled harder and harder. I just had to give in. “Jules, you stay right here and do not give in. I have spent months searching through hell to find you and you aren’t allowed to go back yet.”

“Love.” I winced as Crowley pressed down a bit harder on the wound as if he could physically seal it and stop the blood flow. “You.” To all of them really, they were the people that mattered most to me.

“No. You aren’t allowed to go. We still need you here. What are me and Sammy going to do when we can’t figure something out? Or when we can’t decide on a movie? Who is going to eat all the eggs? Who is going to make sure that baby is well cared for when I am being an ass?” The questions brought up good memories. That was more of a pleasant way to give in. With the smiles and laughter of days gone past wrapping me in warm arms. As much as I wanted to see them in these final moments, maybe it was better that I couldn’t see their tear stained faces, pleading eyes, devastated looks right then. It would have taken away the happy memories. We had all grieved too much in this life and I hated myself for adding this onto my brothers’ shoulders. It had kept Lucifer from Sam though and in the end, that was what mattered, making the whole thing worthwhile. They would be able to continue on without me, they were strong.All three of the men in the room. They would come out the other side stronger and better for it. My life wasn’t given in vain and I knew that they would destroy the threat to the rest of the world as they always would. The blackness crept in further, gently and soothingly beckoning me welcome and I knew that I wouldn’t be able to fend it off anymore. Instead, I gave in willingly, the corners of my lips twitched upward in a smile.


	5. Like Father Like...Daughter?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When John leaves the kids on their own, JD steps up and shows that she is just as capable as her brothers. Even if she is terrified.

We all knew growing up that we didn’t have a normal childhood. It didn’t take that long before that sort of knowledge was gathered. Talking to kids in whichever new school we were in, I found out that not everyone just had a dad, not everyone moved around every couple of weeks, not everyone lived in hotel rooms. Kids were cruel, looking for whatever weakness they could find and picking at it like vultures. I had become a bit of an outcast no matter where we were. But it didn’t matter much to me because I had Dad, I had Dean and Sam. Family was all that we needed to get through in the world. I clung to my family as tightly as I could.

As I grew older, I did get a bit more impatient with the fact that Dad would teach some things to Dean and always had me watch Sammy. Like I couldn’t do the same things or something like that. I knew that I could. I could protect myself and my brothers when Dad was away. As he often was. We would be left in the hotel room with food and money to fend for ourselves, an escape plan always mapped out. Dean was always in charge, always reminded to look after Sam and I. When I tried to talk to Dad about it, he would brush it off, giving me a smile and a kiss to my forehead, saying that it was guy stuff. That wasn’t to say that he didn’t do things with me, because he did. When Dean and Sam were asleep, he would curl up with me and read, whatever new book that he had brought back with him. That was some of my favorite time with him, laying in a creaky, uncomfortable bed as he voiced out all the different characters.

Despite that, I wanted to be treated equally to my brother. Bad things were out there and I knew that Dad took care of the bad things. He was teaching Dean how to do it but he was trying to keep me in the dark about it all. So, I took to watching from the window or listening from behind the door when I was told to go to the other room. I gathered up the knowledge like a sponge, just like Dean did. I practice swinging punches when I was on my own in the bathroom, occasionally getting Dean to wrestle with me to make sure that I could keep up with him. Dean would get nervous when we did it but in the end, his desire to play won out.

Dad was going away for two, three days at the most this time around before we packed up and moved again. I didn’t know what he was chasing this time but he seemed a little more nervous than usual. As Sam and I sat and watched TV he was talking to Dean about what the plans were. Don’t open the door, keep an eye on us, shoot anything that wasn’t him, don’t leave the room. They were the same rules that were laid out every time he left us on our own. We had stayed safe so far by following them. I watched the two out of the corner of my eye, trying to make it look like I wasn’t too interested in it. I knew that Dad wouldn’t like it. He came over and gave us both a kiss to our foreheads, whispering his love before moving towards the door and giving us all one last look. It was the same routine before he left for every one of these trips. I didn’t like to think about the fact that he might not make it back. It wasn’t in the realm of possibility. Dad was invincible, capable of handling anything and making it home to us.

“What is it this time Dean?” I moved off the chair and over to my older brother who was sitting at the small table with a book.

“I don’t know. Dad didn’t say…” I couldn’t tell if he was lying to me or not. Sometimes Dad didn’t explain everything, sometimes he did. Maybe this was one of those times that he didn’t. I tried to peak at the book but he closed it too quick for me to see what was in it. “You know I can’t let you do that.”

“Dean, I can do anything you can.”

“No you can’t. You’re a girl.”

“So? I beat you at wrestling.”

“I let you win.”

“No you don’t.” I pouted a bit and crossed my arms. Why did he have to be so mean?

“Just go back and watch TV with Sam, please JD.”

“Fine.” I huffed and made my way back over to the seat, Sam shifting to let me back inmy spot. I kept my arms crossed and didn’t really watch the TV. I was too mad at Dean. I could do it, I knew I could. They wouldn’t let me.

It had been a whole day since Dad had left and Dean and I were a little bored. Sam could watch TV all day long and never be bored but I didn’t have a new book to read and Dean was getting annoyed by the walking that I was doing around the room.  
“Sit down JD.”

“I don’t want to. I’m bored. I don’t wanna watch any more TV.”

“You can’t go outside.”

“Why?”

“Dad said we had to stay in here.”

“But I just want to go right outside the door. I wouldn’t even go that far.”

“No.”

“Then let me read the book you are reading.”

“No.”

“Dean!”

“No. Now stop acting like a baby!” I glared at him, flopping down onto one of the beds.

“You’re no fun.”

“Dad’s rules.”

“Stupid rules.” I grumbled under my breath, picking at the comforter that was below me. It was worn, the age of the motel we were staying at this time showing. Thankfully we wouldn’t be here too long. It smelled weird and was making Sam and I sneeze. I could hear Dean sigh before he sat down next to me.

“You want to read some?” He held out the book he hadn’t let me see the other day. “You can’t tell Dad and you can’t have nightmares.”

“I promise.” He handed over the book and moved to watch the cartoons with Sam for a little bit before we made some dinner for us all. I became quickly engrossed about all the monsters, eyes wide but unable to stop reading, even if I didn’t understand half of it.

I had read more than Dean expected me to when he went to take the book back the next day.

“If Dad comes back, he can’t see you reading it.” I whined but reluctantly gave the book back to him. He went to thank me when we heard some scratching at the door. Looking at each other, we both frowned and slowly began to move. Sammy was asleep on the bed still, sleeping in as he usual did. Dean went to the door and I climbed up on the little kitchen sink area to look out the window. It was a dog, just a cute dog. I wanted to play with it but knew that we couldn’t open the door.

“It’s just a dog Dean.”

“What kind of dog?”

“I don’t know. A big one. Black and tan. It’s cute.” He was wagging his tail and pawing at the door still. “He isn’t going away. He wants in.” Dean banged on the door to try and scare him but it didn’t do anything. I shook my head when Dean asked if he was gone.

“Come down. He’ll leave or Dad will scare him off when he gets back.” Something about the dog was making me uneasy as he continued to paw at the door. I didn’t think we should stop watching him but Dean would laugh at me if I said something, saying that I just wanted to play with him. And while part of me did, there was another part that wanted to not see him or hear him anymore. There was a part of me that was scared by him.

It didn’t take long for something bad to happen. I was wearily watching the door while Dean was making lunch for all of us when the sound of glass breaking had me spinning to the window. The huge dog had jumped through the glass! Dean dropped the pot he had been holding and tried to move for the gun that he had close to him but the furry body launched at him.

“Dean!” I glanced back to make sure that Sam was okay. “Shut the door Sam and don’t come out!” I yelled at my younger brother, not needing to worry about him too. The dog had Dean pinned to the floor and was going to take a bite out of him. I grabbed a fork from the table, it was the only thing close and jumped onto the dog’s back.

“JD no!” I slammed the fork into the dog’s eye, making him howl out in pain. Clinging tightly to his back, I went for a ride as he bucked around, trying to turn his head and bite me. “JD move, I can’t shoot him with you on his back.” I pressed the fork down harder, crying some. This thing was going to hurt my brothers and I couldn’t allow that. He finally shook me off and I landed on some glass with a small cry. It hurt badly. Whimpering, I looked at the dog and he came towards me, teeth baring. I kicked out at it, trying to keep it further away. Trying to get to my feet, I grabbed another fork that had fallen, ready to jam it into the dog’s other eye if it wouldn’t stop.

Then a loud shot rang out. There was no mistaking the sound of a gun firing. The dog dropped immediately, his head falling at my feet. Tears were streaming down my face but I looked up. Dean and Dad were standing there, guns aimed. They had both shot at it. I sighed in relief and moved to stand up. Dad looked down at Dean and then looked at me.

“You okay Dean?”

“Yeah Dad.”

“JD come here.” He was moving towards me though when he spoke and I met him halfway. He knelt down and looked at my hands and my side before pulling me into a hug. “Let’s get you clean up sweetheart.”

“I’m okay Dad.” Which was a lie. I hurt everywhere but I wanted to show him that I wasn’t weak.

“Don’t lie to me.”

“I am Dad.” He sighed softly and opened the door to the bathroom before setting me down on the edge of the tub. He worked on cleaning my hand before taking a look at my side.

“You did a good job Jules.” I looked up at him wide eyed when he spoke. I had thought that he would be mad with me for breaking the rules even though I had saved Dean.

“You aren’t mad?”

“Why would I be mad? You protected your brothers and yourself.” The cuts on my side hurt as he cleaned them and put some bandages on them. He muttered a couple times under his breath, things that I couldn’t make out.

“You said that it was guy stuff.” He sighed again and brushed some of my hair back.

“Maybe but you are a Winchester so I guess it’s just as much your stuff as it is your brothers.”


	6. Hellhound Savior

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things get a little out of control without her brothers around. JD gets a little help from an unexpected source.

Dropping our bags in the small hotel room, I collapsed down onto the bed while Sam and Dean laughed. Flipping them both off, I lay there with my eyes close, not wanting to think about the fact that we were here working which meant that I wouldn’t be staying in bed for any length of time.

“Seriously JD all we did was drive for a couple of hours. If that is tiring you out, when you weren’t even the one driving, then maybe we need to reevaluate you as a hunter.” Dean was trying his hardest not to laugh with every word.

“You try sitting in the back of that car for several hours. You guys are all nice and stretched out up front. I am the one cramped in the back, listening to your poor choice of music and the bickering back and forth about food.” Dean looked mockingly offended when I claimed he had a poor choice in music. I didn’t mind the classic rock. It was what we were raised on after all. It was just that something different might be nice from time to time. Heaven forbid that ever happen though.

“Oh come on. Not only do you insult my music, you insult Baby too? That is just not cool.” He crossed his arms over his chest. “Next thing you will tell me is that you don’t like pie.”

“More of a cake girl myself.”

“I just don’t know you. I am not even sure we are related.” Sam was laughing so hard at this point that he was doubled over with tears running down his face. It wasn’t often that Dean and I went toe to toe like this, playfully of course, but when we did it was a sight to see.

“Nope, clearly not. All those years in motel rooms that we have memories of are clearly misplaced. I was never the girl in yours and I had two different brothers in mine. It’s a shame then really that I have been tagging around with you losers for so long then. I have brothers out there who could be cool.” Dean smiled and just shook his head as I finally let out a small laugh, unable to keep the straight face anymore. Trust him to be able to ease my tension with just a quick back and forth.

“Damn, I think we broke Sam.” Sam had flopped down onto his bed, wiping away the tears that had fallen from his laughing fit. He remained quiet, just giving a shake of his head as he took in a couple of deep breaths to calm himself down. I turned and curled up on my side as I watched Sam stare at the ceiling. This was more of what it should have been like between us but these moments seemed to be getting fewer and far between. I hated it.

“Nothing to contribute to the conversation Sam? Something about how we love books too much to not be related?” The smile remained as he turned his head to look at me.

“That is true.” Dean just threw his hands up in the air and made a disgusted noise.

“I’m going to take a shower. Leave you two nerds to talk about books then.” He moved towards the bathroom. “Once I’m done, we’ll head out and grab a bite to eat before figuring out how we are going to talk to this Melissa girl.” I gave him the thumbs up to show that I had heard him, Sam mimicking my action. Another noise was made before the eldest of the Winchester trio disappeared.

“You thinking werewolf?”

“Yeah. Think it makes sense given what we know so far. But we could be wrong. Has happened before.” I nodded and rubbed my hand over my face to try and shake some of the tiredness from my mind.

“Well, if that is the case, maybe we could hold out enough luck that we’ll nail it with silver and be out before the end of three days. Be nice to get an easy case every now and then.” He snorted.

“Our last name is Winchester the last time I checked. Pretty sure that means that nothing in our lives is easy.”

“Touche.” There wasn’t much I could do to argue that fact. Nothing had come easy since we were all very young. There were always roadblocks, obstacles for us to overcome even when it felt like the world was falling down around us. We all persevered through it though, coming out the other side. That was also what being a Winchester seemed to mean. Staying strong even through the toughest of times and becoming stronger for it.

***************************************

Two days in town and we hadn’t found a hint of who the wolf could be. It definitely seemed to be a werewolf given the missing hearts of the victims. Pinpointing the culprit was what proved to be difficult. We talked to our one lead but it gave us nothing, which wasn’t actually the usual standard for our cases. Something always stemmed off the first lead but this was puttering to a slow stop while these people were still in danger.

Due to that, the boys were at the bar, getting a few drinks. Sam was even indulging for the time being. Maybe because werewolves were a bit of a sensitive subject for him, given the woman that he had an attachment to that he had to kill. I had opted for one before deciding to return to the motel to see if I could fish something up. We were grasping at straws and drowning myself in liquor was going to do nothing to help matters. A very different thought process from Dean but maybe it would prove useful. I wasn’t keen on having that nasty hangover headache tomorrow either.

Walking to the motel that was just a few buildings down, I made sure that my knife was accessible at my side and that my gun was within a quick grabbing distance. Dean had said that he had loaded my gun with silver bullets so I was confident that if anything was going to happen, I would be able to handle my own. I should have known that feeling confident was never a smart thing when it came to our luck. Bad things always happened when we thought that we had a situation in our control.

I heard the snarl before I saw the creature, as was often the case. Spinning on my heel, I pulled the gun from the waistband of my pants and raised it to carefully aim. There was nothing that I could see but the hairs on the back of my neck told me another story. It was still here, I could practically feel it with me. It just wasn’t showing itself.

“Alright. Come on out here wolfie. No use in hiding. I know you want my heart but you are going to have to work for it seeing as I am rather attached.” The sounds came from my left though they were quick and I found myself knocked to the ground. Damn it. I fired off a shot and hit my mark though it didn’t slow her down. I was a bit flabbergasted at that. Werewolves were not immune to silver, it just didn’t happen. One of those rules that never had an exception. Except at the very moment, I was staying at a very pissed off wolf that had a bullet lodged in her shoulder that was doing nothing but turning to pounce on me again. So I squeezed off another two shots, still hitting her body and it seemed to temporarily slow her down but did not have the desired effect that I wanted. I reached for my knife, knowing that this was going to get messy.

Her claws dug into my arm and I let out a yelp, the pain making it impossible to keep silent. Another shot and still she wasn’t going down. I nearly groaned as I thought about the possibility that Dean hadn’t gotten around to putting the bullets in my gun like he had said. Perfect, just what I needed at the moment. I was going to box him around the ears when I was done with this. Another slash, this one at my back as she hopped and moved quicker than I could almost keep up with had me staggering.

“Damn it.” That was when a different sort of growl reached my ears. It was familiar and had a shiver running down my spine. My eyes darted around the area and nothing came to view but the sounds were close enough that the creature should be visible. It caught the attention of the werewolf and took her gaze off of me. Gritting my teeth, I fired off my last round, aiming for her head. It may not have killed her but it would incapacitate for the time being. The growling continued, coming closer and closer before wounds began to appear on her legs. It was a hell hound. There was no chance that the woman had made a deal with a demon to become a werewolf. Right? It seemed like a crappy sort of deal. I didn’t second question things at the moment, moving quickly back to the motel, back to the Impala so I could grab the necessary supplies. Lifting the trunk, I didn’t brother propping it, grabbing for the first thing silver that I saw. Knife. Perfect. The invisible dog was keeping her on her back, pinned down thankfully. Wounds littered her body but that didn’t mean that she wasn’t fighting back with all that she had.

The pain in my back was distracting, flaring and burning, my brain unfortunately forced to focus partly on that rather than fully on the scene that was before me. Still, I didn’t let it stop from kneeling down and plunging the knife downward into her heart. It took several seconds for the wild in her eyes to recede but it did and she let out a gasp before dying. I felt bad but knew that there was no other option when it came to these creatures. Most of these people didn’t ask for it, the bite was almost always unwanted but that didn’t stop it from happening. I sat down on the ground, wearily knowing that I couldn’t outrun the hell hound if it decided to turn its attentions to me.

“Juliet isn’t in the mood for such a lovely chew toy.” Crowley. I could have laughed if I wasn’t trying to not breath too deeply right at the moment. “Seemed to be in a bit of trouble there love. Where are your brothers?”

“One too many into their night.” I carefully jerked a hand towards the bar. It didn’t seem like the fight had disturbed anything in the evening, occurring in my own little bubble of reality. I peeled off my over shirt and worked on tearing it into pieces to wrap my arm. My back wasn’t something that I was going to be able to handle on my own. “Thank you.” I wasn’t foolish enough to insult him for his help. I had been in trouble.

“She was supposed to be here a bit sooner than that.” He knelt down beside me and checked over my back. “They aren’t too deep but you are going to need them cleaned and patched up. I take it that is the filth that you are staying in this time?” He motioned towards the motel.

“Yeah.” He offered a hand, causing me to glance up at him. He was watching me carefully but seemed genuine enough at the moment. My brothers hadn’t exactly left things off on the best of terms when he had last been around and I hadn’t seen him since. Not that I thought he would harm me, which was probably a foolish thought. He was a demon after all.

“Well, let’s get you laying down.” He helped me up to my feet, an arm sliding around my waist to help support me. “Juliet can finish her dinner in peace.”


	7. Sibling Arguments and Payback

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> JD decides to get some payback in Dean and freak him out as much as she possibly can.

Things had started off like an average hunt. Dead body, small town, quiet inhabitants. It all added up to what was hopefully going to be a relatively average salt and burn. Dean and I had crashed at the motel, Sam being left behind at Bobby’s after our last hunt where he had gotten beat up pretty bad. One too many stitched up wounds kept him sidelined for this. If I wasn’t around and we hadn’t had Bobby to help us talk some sense into him, I think he would have been out here with Dean. It was how both of my brothers worked. Hell, it was how being a Winchester worked. We had to be physically incapacitated for us to stay off our feet and not help family. That wasn’t exactly here nor there though.

I tossed a small ball I had found up in the air repeatedly as I lay on the bed, listening to Dean prattle on about some girl that he had met. It was like he had some twisted sixth sense for finding women that were more than okay with a quick roll in the hay. Not that he always managed to get that far but sometimes he did and those were the times that I found myself more than glad for the company of Sam. This night however, his luck hadn’t held out and he was more than grouchy over the fact.

“You shoulda seen her JD. I mean her legs went on forever.” I rolled my eyes and propped myself up on my elbows a bit, wondering how I could annoy him in such a similar fashion. My mind whirled around with possibilities but each didn’t seem likely to hit the mark that I was looking for. I wanted him a bit disgusted so that he would shut up and I wouldn’t have to hear his mouth running about women for some time to come.

“Dean, come on man. I know that most everyone sees me as one of the guys but I am straight. Meaning, I am attracted to men. I couldn’t care less how the girl looked. She isn’t going to be coming back to this room, you aren’t getting lucky. So calm your hormone-addled teenage self down alright bro?” He gaped at me for a moment before slowly shaking his head.

“Come on, even you could admit to liking to look at a gorgeous woman from time to time. It’s just how our brain works.” I grunted and fell back to the bed, finding my argument useless as he couldn’t wrap his head around the fact that I had no interest. “Seriously though, she was a looker. I am sure even you would get into bed with her. Blonde hair, these bright green eyes. She was just drop dead gorgeous.” I tried to put the pillow over my face to drown out the noise of what he was saying. At this point, surely he knew that he was annoying me and had decided to continue just to torture me a bit further. I could almost hear the smirk in his voice. Flipping him off, the only reaction I got was a laugh before he continued to launch right into some story of another girl that this blonde had reminded him of from another town, on a hunt that I hadn’t accompanied them on.

“Dean, I swear to all that is holy, if you keep this up I am going to done on about some man for the next three hours until I make your ears bleed. Try me bitch.” That seemed to shut him up for a bit. The peace returned to the cramped room and I let out a relieved sigh. I knew that it wouldn’t last too long but at least for now I found my reprieve.

After a rough day of chasing down some cult worshipers, all I wanted to do was grab a shower and collapse into bed. Did I get to do that though? No. Why? Because when I opened the door to our motel room, I found Dean rolling in the sheets with that same damn blonde that he had spent hours talking about. There were some things that just weren’t mean to be seen and your brother in bed with some woman was one of them. I held my hand over my eyes and let out a mockingly pained groan.

“Shit, I won’t be able to see ever again.” I turned around and closed the door with a loud slam. I had hoped that he wouldn’t try a stunt like that when it was just me and him but apparently I had a little too much faith in my older brother. Fishing my phone out of my pocket, I decided that the best course of action was to return the favor. In a manner of sorts. It wasn’t like I jumped into bed with any random guy like my brothers did with women from time to time. I knew what would scar him and I knew that this particular person would agree to it full. If only to mess with Dean. After all, what good was having a demon as a friend if you couldn’t occasionally ask for a “let’s scar my brother for life to teach him a lesson” favor?

As I had anticipated, Crowley had been fully on board with the idea, after spending a couple of moments laughing and mocking my mental trauma. My pout of course just increased his laughter until finally it managed to bring a laugh from me. It was worse for me to catch him like that than it was for Sam. I was his sister after all! So, what was a better plan than giving him some of his own medicine, or at least making it look like I was? Plus, just as an added bonus, I would make sure that Baby was involved so it would stick in his head for some time. There were some bonus points for creativity there. If I hadn’t recruited Crowley for the job, I was sure that Bobby and Sam would be proud of me.  
“Are you sure you are playing on the right side of things love? Sure, the idea is fantastic but to tie it into his beloved car? That is just evil.” We were relaxing in the back of the Impala, I had moved the seats up to give us a bit more leg room. Chuckling softly, I passed him back his bottle of Craig, having taken a small glass for myself.

“You try living with him for twenty six years, see where that put you.” He shook his head.

“I think I will just continue to survive on the overbearing amount of time I have to spend with him now.”

“Exactly. It’s a wonder that I have any sort of grip on sanity at all.” Of course I was being melodramatic but he seemed to almost serious consider it for a moment. Which cause me to reach out and give him a whack on his arm. “Don’t be a jackass.”

“Part of the job description love.”

“Yeah, yeah.” I waved it off, not needing a reminder that I was sitting in the back of the Impala with the King of Hell, about to pretend to be making out. “He shouldn’t be much longer. The man’s stomach runs like clockwork. And he always wants a burger.” I nearly rolled my eyes. How he managed to remain as healthy and fit as he was, was beyond me. If Sam or I ate like that? We would have been dying from legitimate heart attacks a long time ago. Not to mention, I wouldn’t be able to keep pace with the amount of weight that I would put on.

“It is rather amazing that his body tolerates such abuse.”

“You don’t know the half of it.” He theatrically shuddered, causing me to laugh again. This was admittedly pretty nice, just relaxing and joking around. It wasn’t something that I got to do too often any more. The company was just as appreciated, I had come to realize.

“Again, I would prefer to keep my mind untainted.” I rolled my eyes and reached down to set the empty glass on the floor so it would break and hurt one of us during our act.

He shifted closer to me as the seconds ticked away, managing to pull himself out of his suit blazer before unbuttoning a couple of his shirt buttons. I raised an eyebrow at him with a bit of a smirk.

“You want it to be believable right?” Shaking my head, I allowed him to continue. Right before I knew Dean was going to exit the motel room, we shifted and maneuvered until my back was pressed against the seat and his body was hovering mine. It was a bit of an awkward position but we wouldn’t be in it for long. I wasn’t able to see much from my position but he could so he glanced upward and a smirk came to his face. I knew that meant that Dean was approaching. “Show time.” He leaned down a bit more and buried his head into the crook of my neck while I rested one hand above me on the door and the other wound around his shoulders. I was having a hard time keeping myself composed and not laughing, knowing that Dean was going to flip out entirely. I felt Crowley speaking against my skin almost more than I heard the soft words.

“Control it love.” Well, that didn’t make me feel any more comfortable. In fact, suddenly I was acute aware of the way that his body was pressed up against mine and could feel a bit of heat rising to my cheeks. That wasn’t supposed to happen. The handle on the door was pulled and I let out a fake moan, not missing the way that Crowley swallowed hard at the sound.

“What the hell!?” We both turned out heads in the direction of the yell, looking shocked and a bit embarrassed to be caught. Dean stared at us and for a moment I thought he was actually going to try to kill Crowley. “JULIANNA DIANE WINCHESTER!” There was certainly a first time for everything and I don’t think I had ever heard my brother address me by full name.

“Dean.” I pulled myself from under the man, ignoring the blush on my cheeks. “Just calm down and let me explain!” I shifted in front of Crowley just in case Dean decided he wanted to try anything. I wasn’t about to let him get hurt because of my stupid idea. He just shook his head and stepped away. I could hear the muffled laughter that the demon behind me was struggling to keep contained. I slipped from the car and followed him.

“Dean.”

“Nope, nu-uh. I want a one way ticket from nope town to fuck that ville. I ain’t dealing with this shit right now.” I stopped dead in my tracks, blinking for a moment as I tried to work through what it was he had just said. He slammed the motel door shut, forgetting all about his food. I turned around, allowing the grin to come to my face as I walked back to the Impala. My partner in crime was in full hysterics as I slid back into the seat and laughed right alongside him.

“I didn’t know his face could get that red.”

“I thought he was going to kill us both for a moment. He has never said my full name.” As we calmed down and wiped away the tears from our eyes, there was a moment of comfortable silence that enveloped us and the car. I would have to figure out a way to thank him properly for going along with this.

“Jules…” I turned to look at him as he spoke my name before I found his lips crashing down onto mine.


	8. Familiar Faces, Worn Out Places

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Crowley deals with loss until a haunting face pops up.

All three companions, two men and one demon were still reeling from the death of the woman even weeks after the fact. The hole in their lives was more than evident. It was like moving through cement, trying to push on every day and ignore the way that everything changed. Dean and Sam had lost each other before but this hit on a different level. She was the one that they were supposed to protect at all costs, no matter what. She wasn’t supposed to experience that aspect of their lives, she wasn’t supposed to suffer that fate. They were supposed to sacrifice themselves for her before anything else. And they had failed that job. Crowley, he wasn’t sure how he was supposed to handle it. The women meant something to him but he wasn’t sure what that was. He had yet to really figure it out. She was more than just a plaything, more than just amusement. He had made sure that Dean and Sam were not allowed to sell their souls for her life back. It had been made abundantly clear to every demon under his command that by no means were they allowed to do business with either of the Winchester boys. JD would skin them all alive. That was a sacrifice that she was not willing to allow her brothers to make and it was something that the demon king found himself honoring. Besides, she wasn’t down in Hell. He knew that for a fact after spending a week searching to ensure that if she was, he could properly take care of her. So that just left one option and he wasn’t going to ruin that or allow the boys to ruin that. She deserved at least that much for them after all that she had done. If it was the only good thing that he did with his life, both as a human and as a demon, then so be it.

Crowley decided after checking in on Moose and Squirrel to ensure that they were about as mentally intact as they could get to take a walk. He didn’t feel any desire to go right back to his kingdom. He kept to the docks in the new town, the silent lapping of the water against the wood oddly soothing. It was nothing more than a mild distraction, an attempt to continue to further the woman from his mind. He didn’t want to think about Jules anymore, didn’t want to find himself distracted by the thought of popping into her apartment to find her reading some book that had nothing to do with her job as a hunter, or the way that she would reel him in to prank her brothers when she was particularly upset with something idiotic that they had done, or the way that she didn’t view him as the scum on the bottom of her boot. There was no point in wanting to think about the fact that she was the only one that seemed to make the world make more sense when things had gotten too out of hand with the shift in the dynamics of him and the brothers. She was the only one worth his time, a thought that would twist him quicker than anything else in the world. No, it wouldn’t do him any good to dwell on those things or allow them to continually pop up at the most inopportune times. He was the king of Hell, he didn’t have emotions, and he wouldn’t be hung up over the death of a Winchester. He couldn’t and wouldn’t allow it to happen.

The sound of laughter drew his ear. Soft and melodic, it echoed out across the deck and over the water, filling the area around him. It was oddly familiar and caused his brow to furrow as he listened to it ring out clear through the space. It almost felt like it was echoing though there was not a chance it was with the setup of the docks. He knew he should have just ignored it, continued on and worked on clearing his mind of the woman. But something was pulling him and refused to allow him to move on like he wanted. So Crowley found himself moving towards the sound, looking for the person responsible for it. He didn’t have much else to occupy himself right now. He could use what would hopefully be a bigger distraction than just the walk. Maybe this was a woman that he had dealt with in the past. Or it was someone that he had been looking for, a soul that needed collecting. It wasn’t his job anymore but getting his hands dirty would serve to put him back into that space that he needed to be in to head back to Hell.

He came upon a small boat, fishing boat more than likely from the looks of it. A woman stood on deck with another man, talking with giant smiles. They had apparently just brought in a delivery from the sight of the fish being loaded off of the boat. A few other men walked away with the offload, leaving the two alone on the deck of the boat. That familiar tug continued and he positioned himself in a way that he could see who the woman was. What stopped him in his tracks was the face, so incredibly familiar that he thought for a moment he wasn’t actually awake. He hadn’t slept in years but in that moment, he had to be dreaming. Then again, odder things had happened. He could have been sent to an alternate dimension. The fates could be playing some cruel trick on him, a sort of punishment for the life that he had led. None of it would be worth having to see Jules and not being able to talk to her, have her near, hold her, anything that he had gotten to do previously.

JD was standing in front of him without a care in the world. Anger was the first thing that he experienced. It overwhelmed everything else in his system. There was no joy, no thrill in seeing her. How could she be here after all that her brothers went through? They were barely surviving as it was, hanging onto an existence that was nothing as it should be. All the spark had been lost from the brothers. But forget them. What about him? This woman who had managed to squirm her way into his life, into his mind. Sure he was just initially using her to get close to the brothers, to use them as well. But somewhere along the way, she had come to mean something to him and as much as he loathed to admit it, he sort of needed her around just as much as the brothers did. His fingers curled into fists at his side, hands shaking with the force just slightly. It was dangerous to approach her in his current mood but that once more didn’t stop his feet from carrying him over.

“Jules!” The man looked confused and she didn’t respond. Was she really going to ignore him? A nudge from the man had her turning around. She seemed thoroughly confused, no spark of recognition appearing on her face. There was no sign of guilt, no sign of fear, no nothing but absolute confusion.

“I’m sorry sir. Can we help you?”

“Cut the act Jules. We need to talk.”

“I think you might have me confused for someone else.” She shifted on her feet, seemingly growing uncomfortable. She didn’t move to reach for any blade though which didn’t go unnoticed by him. None of her reactions were normal for her. She glanced back at the man behind her for a moment. “My name is Caroline. I don’t know who it is you are looking for but I can assure you that I am not her. And for that matter, I have no idea who you are.” Crowley knew he wasn’t wrong, he knew for a fact that this was Jules, he just didn’t know how to prove it, how to get her to break character. He stepped closer and noticed that the man that had been beside her tensed, reaching for the closest thing that was on hand for a weapon.

The demon gritted his teeth as he watched the man and debated pinning him to the wall of the boat so that he wouldn’t cause any problems. Carefully studying the woman, he tried to find some sort of recognition, anything that would tell him that it was actually Jules that he was looking at. Maybe he had lost it. Maybe this wasn’t actually the woman that he thought it was. That was when he caught sight of the tiny little scar off to the side of her right eyebrow. There was no way that this wasn’t the Winchester that he had been missing.

“You really have no clue who I am?”

“You’d think the confused looks and blank stare would have answered that for you.” Oh yeah, with that sarcasm there was no doubt that it was JD standing in front of him. How she was hiding the fact that she knew who he was shocked him. She had been a decent actress before but this was beyond her abilities. That was when he delved into her thoughts. He had always tried to avoid the act as much as he could for her sake, holding enough respect for her that he did not allow himself to invade her privacy in such a manner.

What he found told him that she wasn’t lying. She had no idea who he was and was beginning to get scared. In fact, there was not a single trace of any of her previous knowledge of Hell and demons, of her brothers and the life of a hunter, of all the experiences that had shaped her into the woman that caught his attention. He pulled back from her mind and stared blankly ather for a few moments that anger immediately dissipating. There were forces at play here that he didn’t understand. At least not yet. He fully intended to. If she was back on Earth, he wasn’t about to let her go. Not after doing it once. Not to mention, if he could find her that means others could as well. Which put her in a lot of danger. She wasn’t able to pull forward any of her knowledge or her hunter abilities. The thought churned his stomach.

“I’m sorry. You just…you look exactly like someone I thought was lost.” Her shoulders dropped just a little bit and the man behind her relaxed somewhat when he stopped advancing and gave into the fact that supposedly she wasn’t who he was looking for. He would figure this out, more for selfish reasons but then again, he was a demon after all. It was nothing out of the ordinary. He lost her once and he wasn’t going to let that happen again. “Sorry again.” He backed away and waited until he was out of eyesight to call upon Juliet. The hellhound would be trusted with the task of keeping Jules safe until he figured everything out. She readily agreed. Jules would be safe with his girl watching over her, no matter what came after her. Any poor supernatural being would be sorry for coming onto her. That was the reassurance that Crowley needed to be able to walk away from her and head right to the bunker to talk to the boys.


End file.
